According to present practice as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,895, a web of material is cut along a predetermined line of severance by a pair of superimposed die cylinders having co-acting severing blades in the form of lands projecting generally radially outwardly from the main body of the cylinders. The lands have an outer face and a pair of spaced apart side faces. A cutting edge is defined by the outer face and one side face of each land. To enable adjustment of the lands on one die with respect to the lands on the other die into correct registration for co-acting to cut the web, the lands are constructed and arranged on the dies so that registration can be established by moving the die cylinders axially and/or in rotary phase relationship with respect to each other.
To permit this adjustment where the line of severance defines a closed figure or blank, the cutting action of the lands transfers from one edge to the other at least twice in two generally opposed pairs of cross-over sections in the co-acting lands. If, for example, the blank cut from a web is rectangular, and because of the transfer of the cutting action at the cross-over sections, the lands of each cylinder involved in cutting two axially spaced edges of the figure will be on the same side of the line of severance, and the lands of each cylinder involved in cutting the two circumferentially spaced edges of the figure will also be on the same side of the line of severance.